Friday, February 28, 2014

"Play is … the way that children make the world their own, exploring, making sense of all their new experiences, and recovering from life's upsets." {Larry Cohen, Playful Parenting} It is also well-established that children learn through play, which is why we've gathered some creative and fun products and websites to share with you and your children.

The Learning through Play Giveaway features nine amazing products for kids of all different ages and interests. I'm featuring one of those companies in my review below. When you get done reading my review, please click on over to the full Learning through Play giveaway post, where you'll find information on all of the goodies you can win. In total, we're giving away nine products worth $738!

Even if you don't win one of our fabulous prize packages, please consider spending part of your educational budget at one of these small businesses. By supporting small businesses and independent authors, you are helping families, boosting local economies, and supporting ethical practices of manufacturing, production and selling.

About Kinderfeets

Kinderfeets, a play on the Dutch words for children and bicycle, is a balance bike designed for young children to ease the transition gradually to a pedal-powered bicycle. Balance bikes are great for toddlers and preschoolers to teach balance naturally so that they can skip the training-wheel stage and go straight to riding a two-wheeled pedal bike when they're ready.

Kids as young as two (or sometimes even younger) can start out walking the bike slowly, progress to longer strides, and eventually learn to balance as they glide for longer periods.

What makes Kinderfeets different from other balance bikes?

Eco-friendly! They're made from (beautiful!) sustainable birch wood, from a replenishable source. The airless tires are completely biodegradable. The chalkboard finish paint is water-based, and the lacquer is non-toxic. And with Trees for the Future, Kinderfeets plants a tree for every bike they sell.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

We were driving back from Chuck E. Cheese when Mikko piped up from the back seat — again. As I've mentioned before, he loves to chatter, so he'd spent the drive regaling me with "Remember when…?" exclusively from Spongebob episodes. I figured this would be another Squarepantsian reminiscence and, after a long day and then a frenetic arcade experience, was nearly prepared to tune him out or shut him off.

But this time, he said, "Mama, who decided that numbers just keep going on and on?"

I said, "I have no idea who it was. It's just — whatever the biggest number you can think of, you can always add one to it, and then it's bigger."

By nursing in public I am doing my bit in shifting the framing of breasts back to feeding rather than sexing and it’s important enough to me to risk Death Stares and Facebook rants.

It’s not militant, it’s not aggressive, it’s no Gestapo-like boob army. It’s just a mother breastfeeding her baby when the baby needs it. It’s a natural, normal activity that has been done since time began and shouldn’t be hidden under a bushel.

Theme: Everyday Superheroes: Have you done anything brave lately? Have you witnessed any quiet heroism? What characteristics say "superhero" to you? Your children?

Deadline: Tuesday, March 4. Fill out the webform (at the link or at the bottom) and email your submission to us by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time: CarNatPar {at} NaturalParentsNetwork.com

Carnival date:Tuesday, March 11. Before you post, we will send you an email with a little blurb in html to paste into your submission that will introduce the carnival. You will publish your post on March 11 and email us the link if you haven't done so already. Once everyone's posts are published by noon Eastern time, we will send out a finalized list of all the participants' links to generate lots of link love for your site! We'll include full instructions in the email we send before the posting date.

"32" - Taylor Swift "22" music video parody. I particularly laughed at the part about finding a dentist and about my whole body being sore from walking up a staircase. And I totally do have acne AND wrinkles!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Ok…wait for it! This is going to be an epic post about an epic collection.

Thirty-five hand-selected resources chosen to transform your parenting — and they can all be in your library.

It's Mindful Nurturing's Essential Parenting Collection, of which I'm an organizer and contributor. We've got mini-collections available on the topics of Pregnancy and Birth, Parenting the Early Years, Child Development, Mindful Guidance, and Resources for Parents, so I'll be going over those for you here. The full collection includes coloring books, eCourses, eBooks, Audiobooks, Workshops, online yoga courses and more.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Welcome to the February 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting Fears

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories and wisdom about parenting fears.

Do these kids look scary to you?
Yeah … ok … a little.

I became a parent in my thirties. That had given me a long time to not have children. I worried about the addition of new people into my life and marriage — would we get along? Would they have personalities and tastes compatible with mine? Would I like them?

Here are some of my top fears and how they've come true:

I worried about parenting a boy.

And so, naturally, I had two. We actually tried, through dubious and unproven (and apparently not very effective) techniques, to sway our odds toward having a girl the first time around.

When Mikko was born and it turned out he had boy parts, it felt inevitable. Well, of course, you're a boy. Of course, I have to face this fear, now, here, first thing.

And it took…about two seconds to shoot down. This was not "a boy." This was Mikko. My son! My child. I had no idea if he'd grow up macho and arrogant, outdoorsy and athletic (à la our older brothers, and what set our fears into motion), or whether he'd be more … in the middle, gender-wise, the way Sam and I are, but I knew I'd love him, regardless. He just … was. He was himself.

Monday, February 10, 2014

It's winter, and for me that means drier skin. So I was happy to review Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Care line — specifically the Body Lotion and the Dry Body Oil.

I've been hearing about argan oil all over the place lately — have you? It's supposed to be fabulous for nourishing and moisturizing and chock full of nutrients and antioxidants. It's made from the nut of the argan tree that grows in Morocco, which is kind of far from Seattle, by which I mean I hadn't yet had a chance to give it a try. So I love that Suave's brought a premium ingredient to the mainstream, since this new body care line is infused with authentic Moroccan argan oil.

The Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Lotion was a nice, hydrating lotion with a pleasant, Moroccan-ish scent. What does Morocco smell like? As established, I have no idea. But this somehow evoked the idea to me!

The lotion absorbed quickly and felt nice on my hands. Even though it was substantial, it wasn't greasy, and the moisturizing lasted nicely even through my next hand washing.

It is much easier to spritz the Dry Body Oil Spray
than my intense hand tendons would suggest.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

In case anyone's been wondering where I've been lately (all those missed Wordless Wednesdays and Sunday Surfs — the horror!), it's been a distraction trifecta:

Excise taxes — woohoo! Every January I do the state and city taxes for three businesses I run. It's always a kick.

Writing a whole entire book! I know. I was surprised, too!1 I've finished The Natural Parent's Guide to Babywearing, and I am so happy and proud about it. And you'll get to find out more about it, because … it's part of:

Mindful Nurturing's Essential Parenting Collection contains 35 eProducts on the topics of Pregnancy and Birth, Parenting the Early Years, Child Development, Mindful Guidance, and Resources for Parents. It includes coloring books, eCourses, eBooks, Audiobooks, Workshops, online yoga courses and more.

Unlike other eProduct bundle sales, this one will be around awhile to give you time to absorb the incredible scope of the resources and learn more about them from me over the course of the sale. I hope to introduce you to each resource that's meant something to me, as well as give you an overview of each topical module.

Response to this new take on the bundle concept has been massive, and we've been able to get huge names to contribute, including Teresa Graham Brett, Brian Post, Jennifer Margulis, Gabor Maté, Gordon Neufeld, Lori Petro, and many more. (Not to mention Lauren Wayne — she's very exclusive.)

Some of the titles in this collection will shake your world and your parenting perspective: Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers, The Business of Baby, Birth Relaxation Kit, Gender Neutral Parenting, and more!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

It's when I'm most stuck in my ideas that I should have a set number of uninterrupted hours of sleep in a particular environment at a particular time that I lose the most sleep! And the sleep that I do get isn't as refreshing or appreciated.

When I can let go of my need for "perfect" sleep, I can enjoy and optimize the sleep opportunities I have as an attachment mother of young children.

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Riding the rails with my husband, Crackerdog Sam, and our hobo kids, Mikko Lint Picker (born June 2007), Alrik Irontrousers (born May 2011), and one on the way (coming October 2014). Trying every day to parent intentionally and with grace.